MOSCOW, June 25./ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin told cabinet ministers at a meeting on Wednesday that the government should help Russian regions in accommodating refugees who come to Russia from conflict zones in Ukraine.

"I would like you to think how we can help the people stranded in conflict zones who are entering our territory. It is clear that the number of refugees is so great that it is becoming hard for Russian regions to cope with the influx. I am asking the government to think of how to help the Russian regions. I know that the prime minister has taken this decision,” Putin said.

Putin told the cabinet ministers that he had raised sensitive issues like the situation in Eastern Ukraine, including the refugee problem, during his visit to Austria.

In turn, Vice-Premier Dmitry Kozak said that 95,000 people from Ukraine had either applied for a refugee status or for citizenship or residence right. According to him, the number of people (form Ukraine) applying for temporary shelter has tripled since last year.

Kozak said that the main burden was falling on regions bordering on Ukraine which have opened 271 temporary refugee camps where over 27,000 displaced persons have been settled. He added that Russia has simplified the rules of granting temporary shelter. “In Russia, the procedure has been slow. It provides for mandatory medical examination. With such a huge influx of people it is necessary to simplify the rules with aim to make the process of obtaining a refugee status faster,” Kozak stressed.

Meanwhile, re-settlers from Ukraine will be paid one-time monetary allowances.

“A considerable number of people are staying with Russian families. They did not think that their temporary shelter would last for several months and now they are facing financial difficulties,” Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Kozak said at President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with cabinet ministers on Wednesday.

It was decided to prepare proposals on granting one-time monetary allowances to people with an official refugee status by next Monday.